With the staggering pace of AI evolution, the idea that “consultants are no longer needed” is rapidly becoming a reality in the business world.
“Can you tell us the latest market trends?” “What’s the best way to run digital ads?”
“Who are our competitors in this new market we want to enter?” “Can you propose an M&A strategy?”
These used to be the exact questions clients threw at us—the bread and butter of the consulting business. Today, if you ask AI, you get a decent answer in a split second. Consultants who do nothing more than gather information from the internet and package it into pretty slides will undoubtedly be phased out in the near future.
But this raises a critical question.
When Anyone Can Use AI, What Creates the Edge?
Even today, clients constantly approach consultants with these very questions.
And if you’re wondering what those consultants are doing behind the scenes: the truth is, we are using AI too.
In fact, to be precise, there might not be any “desk workers” out there who exploit AI as exhaustively as we do.
Naturally, this leads clients to a logical conclusion: “If we can just use AI to find the answers ourselves, why are we paying exorbitant consulting fees?”
They are absolutely right. So, what sets apart the output a client gets from AI versus the output a consultant gets from AI?
Where does the difference come from?
The accuracy of the output, its deep relevance to the business, and above all, that overwhelming sense of clarity and conviction.
What is the ultimate source of differentiation that justifies a high consulting fee?
I believe the answer lies in a timeless truth: the quantity and quality of our inputs.
In a World Where “Output is Free”
“Anyone can generate output now.”
This is the baseline of the AI era. AI can be your sounding board, do your research, and even build your slide decks. Tasks that clients used to offload to consultants because they “lacked the time or know-how”—the tedious, granular work (grant and subsidy applications being prime examples)—can now be almost entirely handled by AI, even if it’s not yet flawless.
In short, the power to produce output has been democratized.
That is exactly why the absolute difference in our daily inputs—what kind of information we consume and the sheer volume of it—determines the quality of what we can extract from AI. This is what divides high-value consultants from the rest.
What a High-Value Consultant Must Do Every Day
So, what should a surviving consultant actually do every single day?
Ironically, I believe it comes down to incredibly analog habits that have absolutely nothing to do with digital technology or AI.
- How deeply are you reading high-quality books?
- Are you reading between the lines of the news to grasp global macroeconomic shifts?
- Are you uncovering the stories behind the world’s latest headlines?
- How much are you getting your hands dirty on the ground, absorbing raw, primary information with your own five senses?
- How closely are you observing real user behavior?
These are the domains that AI—which merely scrapes the surface of the internet—can never replicate.
Conclusion: The Ultimate, Back-to-Basics Differentiation
This relentless, grounded accumulation of knowledge is exactly how the knowledge-brokerage business has operated for centuries.
In the age of AI, I believe this is the only lifeline that truly makes a consultant a consultant.
Rather than hiding behind superficial skills or chasing mere efficiency, we must remain obsessed with the overwhelming quality and quantity of our inputs. Now that everyone holds a magic wand (AI), committing to this grind is exactly what we, as consultants, must do every single day.
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